June 5, 2010

TSA irrationally wins

Tomorrow, I fly home via Logan Airport and I will, for the first time, give in to the TSA's demands and take off my shoes. They win. Ever since the actions of Reid, the shoe bomber, the poster boy for one incident spawning a Federal Act, every US passenger must remove their shoes before entering the domain of the TSA for inspection.

Wearing my AFOs, I always lied to them and said I couldn't remove the braces. I said this because it was more convenient to leave them on and undergo the "male assist, no alarm" personal service the TSA gave me for my potentially deadly braces.

The new twist? After the swab and pat down, I am now subjected to an X-ray device for EIGHT images, 4 per leg, taken while I wear the braces. It's awkward, it takes a long time, I waste lots of federal resources and I just want to get through this mess quicker. I don't appreciate being a spectacle taking off my braces in front of everyone, but they wore me down.

It's pretty obvious the shoe thing is irrational; one shoe bomber attempt and all the shoes come off. Where's the action following last Xmas' underwear bomber?

They totally need that in-the-trenches experience. Good fodder for the dinner table.

So, just as I give in and hobble through the detector, one of the agents engages me in a conversation saying he never heard of this xray procedure (that I've gone through twice) and said there was no reason to have removed them.

I think the TSA inconviences I face, are from inconsistent protocol. The typical pat down and swab of the brace is pretty quick. The xray thing is ridiculous. Don't know what I'll do next time.